"Playing Test cricket in India is about attrition" - Matt Prior
A crucial member of the last England team to win a series in India, Matt Prior has opened up about the arduous physical and mental challenges of playing in the sub-continent nation.
The former wicket-keeper batsman believes that playing Test cricket in India is about attrition. Matt Prior also spoke about the adjustment every overseas player has to make when playing in India.
England had defeated India in their own den in the 2012-13 Test series under Sir Alastair Cook's captaincy. Matt Prior was the fourth-highest scorer for the visitors in that series, smashing 258 runs from five innings at an average of 51.60.
Talking to ESPNCricinfo about his experience, Prior said:
"Playing Test cricket in India is about attrition. From a wicketkeeping perspective, in the first over of the day, with Jimmy Anderson bowling in the high-80s [mph/140kph], I was standing literally four yards back. It's obviously very hot and very humid, so there's a huge physical drain that you have to be prepared for. And then mentally it's very draining. For players who have grown up in England, you're used to the ball swinging and seaming, and leaving on length and in the channel, but your whole gameplan has to change, whether that's for batsmen, bowlers, wicketkeepers, or even fielders, who have to think more about what they're doing with the ball so that they can get it to reverse," said Matt Prior.
The 38-year-old further added:
"It's about building pressure and then sustaining it for as long as you can. That's the way to get wickets. Pitches are generally so flat and good to bat on until you get into the third innings when it starts turning. You have to bat for hours and hours and hours to get a lead and that was really what we built our whole campaign around: getting more runs than India in the first innings. Cashing in is key."
"India is the toughest place to keep wicket" - Matt Prior
Matt Prior also compared his experiences of wicket-keeping in Perth - home of arguably the fastest pitch in the world - to playing in India.
"Everyone says to me that keeping wicket at the WACA must have been really difficult because you're 30 yards back. Actually, it was great fun because the ball was coming through at waist height and you've got a lot of time to move your feet. In India, you're so close that it puts a huge amount of pressure on your technique as a wicketkeeper. You're having to stay lower for longer, hold your posture position for longer, and you have to be able to move your quads and your butt, low and fast, under pressure," said Matt Prior.
Prior went on to label India as the toughest place to keep wickets. He added:
"That's stood back, but you spend 80% of the time stood up to the stumps so the number of squats you do in a day is through the roof. Your fast-twitch fibers are put under a huge amount of pressure for most of the day. It's physically draining - it's the toughest place to keep wicket, there's no doubt about it."
The four-match Test series between India and England is set to commence from February 5 in Chennai.